Improvement in the modes of manufacturing gold, silver, or plated-ware



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HENRY G. REED, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO REED 8c BARTON, OESAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 112,077, dated February 21, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODES OF MANUFACTURING GOLD, SILVER, OR PLATED-WARE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY G. REED, of Taunton, in the county of Bristoland State of Massachusetts, have invented a new :and improved Method ofOrnamenting Gold, Silver, or Plated-Ware; and I do hereby declare the,following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,suificient to enable others skilled in the art to which the inventionappertains to fully understand and use it.

This invention is an improved process, whereby gold, silver, andplated-.ware can be beautifully ornamented with chased, engraved, oretched designs, without the use of pitch-or the necessity of finishingor burnishing the articles afterward, and so rapidly and perfectlythatwork which has heretofore cost twenty dollars can by this process bedone in a supe rior manner for less than one dollar.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that gold, silver, andplated-ware has always heretofore been partially finished, then engravedor chased by hand at great cost of time and labor, as well as risk ofinjuring the articles, and burnished and finished afterward.

In engraving and otherwise ornamenting such ware by hand the articlesare embedded in pitch, which renders it absolutely necessary that thefinishing and burnishing of them should be postponed to the engraving,as otherwise the polish would be destroyed by the pitch and, on theother hand, the engraving preceding the polishing, the latter part ofthe process is exceedingly liable to deface the work of the former part,and always requires the'utmost care, in addition to great skill in theart.

lnconsequence of these facts the ornamenting of such ware hashithertobeen a difiicult and costly operation, the designs engraved upon singlearticles, such as waiters, cake-baskets, &c., often costing themanufacturer twenty dollars or more, thereby materially raising theprice of the manufactured article and putting such ware beyond the reachof the masses. The process which I am about to describe is one which isnow in practical operation in Reed 85 Bartons manufactory in Taunton,Massachusetts, and by which it has been demonstrated that not only can asuperior article of manufacture be produced, but it can be produced inso incredibly short a time as actu-- ally to diminish the expense ofsuch ornamentation to less than one-twentieth part of what it has beenup to the present time, and, of course, to enable the manufacturedarticle to be sold at a corresponding reduced price.

The main feature of my process is the production of chased, engraved, oretched ornamental work upon gold, silver, or plated-ware by means ofsteel dies, or knots transferred from dies, moved by the application ofmachinery, the dies being of the same character as those employed inmaking bank-notes.

My invention, however, is not confined to the use of such d ies, butconsists in the process of manufacture, which I will now brieflydescribe.

I first produce the body of the article by the old methods, striking itup between two dies. I then attach the handles, spouts, ears, 850., ifany are to be joined to the body thus made. The article is then polishedand thoroughly finished, so that no further burnishing or finishing isnecessaryin any stage of the process.

Itis then held 'firmly upon a. polished steel bed or rest, so applied asto furnish a staunch support to the .part which is to-be ornamented, andin that position the die, having the design upon its face, is applied toit by means of a drop-press or other machinery.

The die sinks or cuts into the polished surface of the ware, producingtherein an exact impression of its face, the lines fully equaling inornamental beauty the finest chasing or engraving, and being more sharp,clear, and distinct than anything commonly. produced by hand. Thereverse side of the article will be smooth; not being raised ordepressed by the action of the die, will show no traces of theornamentation upon the other side. I In this respect the manufacturedarticle also differs from those produced by hand, the impression of theengraving in the latter class of ornamented ware being distinctlyvisible. on the reverse side of the plate, making it rougliand ofteninjuring it for use;

Having thus described my invention,

. What-I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-- Theprocess of ordarnenting gold, silver, or platedware, substantially asherein described.

HENRY G. REED. [L. 3.]

Witnesses WILLIAM W. SWAN, O. P. HARRIS.

